WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State Warriors (10-10, 7-9) took on the University of Mary Marauders (8-14, 6-10) in the final game of their four game home stand. The Warriors built off their previous night's overtime victory, beating Mary 85-79. Winona State was able to send the Marauders home with a loss in large part due to a balanced scoring effort.
 
Damonta Henry got Mary on the scoreboard finding the bottom of the net from three on the contests first possession. Connor Flack capitalized on a Marauder turnover by converting a layup to get the Warriors on the board two possessions later. Four straight Winona State points from Isaiah Gray kept WSU within one point as both sides traded baskets. A pair of Marauder free throws led to a brief two-minute dry spell before Riley Bambenek continued the scoring with his layup.
 
The layup sparked a 7-0 run for the Warriors with Bambenek also hitting from deep. Isaac Lindquist ended the Winona State run with a jumper before a three from Mason Domask sparked an 11-0 run. The scoring streak had a three-point contribution from Bauman and extended the WSU lead to 13 with nine and a half minutes remaining.
 
A minute later, a three from the University of Mary's Erron Collins ended the Marauders' four-minute scoreless streak. Corey Jeffs knocked down a triple to extend the lead to double digits once again following a Mary layup. Henry knocked down a shot from beyond the arc looking to cut into the Warrior lead before a dunk from Bauman extended the advantage back to 12.
 
A short 6-0 run from the Marauders cut the WSU edge to six before a jumper from Gray ended a brief two-and-a-half-minute dry spell. Winona State would hold a 39-33 lead entering halftime.
 
Gray and Bauman tied for the Warrior lead in points with nine, while Josh Mongan tallied five assists in the half. Bauman, Jeffs and Tommy Gathje all tied for the team lead with three rebounds apiece. WSU shot 53.1 percent from the field in the first half, while tough defense held Mary to a 38.7 percentage. Winona State held the scoring advantage in the paint at 20-14, points of turnovers 7-2, and in bench scoring at 17-3. The Marauders held a slight advantage on the glass at 20-17.
 
Henry tipped off scoring for the second straight half cutting the Winona State advantage to four before Bambenek knocked down both of his shots from the charity stripe. Bambenek followed his free throw by making two consecutive threes, pushing the Warrior advantage to ten. A few moments later Gathje found the bottom of the net from three but Winona State couldn't build on their lead as they went scoreless over the next 3:45. Bauman knocked down a jumper to end the scoring drought bringing the Warrior edge to six. The Marauders were given a technical a minute later that WSU took full advantage of as Mongan hit both shots from the line before Bauman made both of his free throws with the final half approaching the ten-minute mark.
 
A 7-0 Mary run dwindled the advantage to just four until Gray's jumper got Winona State back on the board. Gathje contributed five straight points for the Warriors extending the lead. However, Mary fought back with four points in a row, keeping the game within one possession. Both sides traded baskets as the game approached the two-minute mark. Bambenek dwindled the Marauder's comeback hopes with a three giving Winona State a five-point lead. A pair of free throws from Mongan and Gray put the game on ice as the Warriors fended off Mary, winning 85-79.
 
Quick Hitters:
Four Warriors scored above 15 points on the night, led by Gray with 19.
Gathje, Bambenek, and Bauman all tied for second with 16 points.
Gathje led WSU in rebounds with seven while Gray added six.
Mongan had a team high six assists.
Damonta Henry led all scorers on the night with 26.
The Warriors out shot Mary 50 to 46.2 percent on the night.
Winona State had a good night from beyond the arc connecting on 42.9 percent of their shots.
WSU held a slight rebounding advantage at 33-32.
The Warriors held a big advantage in bench scoring at 24-8.
Winona State heads to Moorhead State University on Friday; tip-off is set for 8 p.m.
 
By: Jake Thiede